Free Republic

First of the parasitic parasites to be discovered in a natural environment points to hidden diversity. A genomic survey of the microbial life in an Antarctic lake has revealed a new virophage — a virus that attacks viruses. The discovery suggests that these life forms are more common, and have a larger role in the environment, than was once thought. An Australian research team found the virophage while surveying the extremely salty Organic Lake in eastern Antarctica. While sequencing the collective genome of microbes living in the surface waters, they discovered the virus, which they dubbed the Organic Lake Virophage...

Enlarge ImageBigger fleas have littler fleas. And Mimiviruses are infected with smaller Sputnik viruses.Credit: Courtesy of Bernard La Scola/URMIT Little more than protein capsules chock-full of genetic material, viruses barely rank among the living. Yet like people, at least one virus can catch a virus--the viral equivalent of coming down with the flu. This "flu" virus impairs the host virus's ability to grow and reproduce, a research team studying the largest known viruses reports. Viruses are tiny biological hijackers that cause diseases that include the common cold, the flu, chickenpox, and AIDS. They infect animals, plants, and microorganisms and...